The Lakers were shorthanded on Friday but it didn’t matter, thanks to Luka Doncic. He had 44 points during the first three quarters of a 128-117 win over Indiana.
He joined Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West as the only players in Lakers history to score at least 40 points in a season 10 times, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
“I felt great,” Doncic said. “I felt like I had my legs working. But definitely needed to win this game, so we came out aggressive.”
Doncic added five assists in the Lakers’ fourth win in five games.
“He can make every shot,” coach JJ Redick said. “I mean, he can make a step-back, left-wing bank shot that line drives and barely goes above the rim. He can make floaters. He can make floaters going left, right. He’s a shot-maker, but he’s also a playmaker.”
Here’s more on the Los Angeles teams:
- LeBron James did not play after sustaining a left elbow contusion against the Nuggets on Thursday. Redick expects James to play on Sunday against the Knicks. Deandre Ayton (knee) and backup Maxi Kleber (back) also sat out on Friday but could also return to action as soon as Sunday.
- The Lakers hold the sixth spot in the West, but they’re just 3-11 against teams that are .600 or better and only one of those victories have come in the last four months. They could record a statement victory this weekend against the Knicks, Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the Los Angeles Times opines. “You play teams that are playing winning basketball and [have] winning records, it definitely can build some confidence in the group,” guard Luke Kennard said. “But I know even some of the close games we’ve lost just recently, I know we’ve done some really good things. … We know what we have in the locker room and in this group.”
- The Clippers blew a chance to win their fourth straight and reach the .500 mark on Friday. They led San Antonio by 25 points in the third quarter but lost 116-112, per the Associated Press. They also wasted a season-high 26 points and four steals from veteran big man Brook Lopez.
- ICYMI, the Clippers lost their rookie center for the rest of the season due to a foot injury. Get details here.
I researched this for my sports-chat group just prior to the Lakers-Nuggets on Thursday night. My angle was slightly different than Amazon Prime’s graphic – record versus .600 or better teams. I wanted to see how the Nuggets and Lakers are doing against the current TOP-9 teams in the NBA (both teams are among the TOP 10; hence, how do you perform against the other 9 in the upper echelon of the NBA). Nuggets, in my opinion, have been hit harder by the injury bug than the Lakers. And still, they have a better record against the TOP 9, improving to 9-11 after embarrassing the Lakers – despite missing two starters and their first or second guy off the bench – before dropping to 9-12 after getting trounced by the Knicks. Meanwhile, the Lakers, as mentioned in the article above, got off to a solid 3-0 start against the TOP 9 in the first two weeks (granted, the TOP 9 is an ever-evolving entity at that point of the season, yes) before proceeding to lose 12 of their next 15 against such competition. And it really goes without saying/typing: WHO WAS MISSING FROM THE LAKER LINEUP IN THOSE FIRST TWO WEEKS WHEN THEY BEAT MINNESOTA TWICE AND SAN ANTONIO ONCE? Isn’t it a bit shocking, even by Brawny Senior’s typical standard of bringing down a team with moderate-to-high expectations, that once he got over his sciatica issue, the Lakers would proceed to win just THREE of 15 games against the upper echelon of the NBA?! If you can’t secure AT LEAST a .500 record against the TOP 9-10 of the league, then your title hopes are essentially just THAT – hopes, prayers, wishful thinking, bar chatter. Lakers (6-12) still have time to get there – half of their remaining games are against current TOP 9s. But MAAAAAAAANN.
Doesn’t come across as unhinged at all…
Numbers rarely lie, luvhoops……except maybe in the case of the Lakers’ overall record.